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#Post#: 305--------------------------------------------------
~ Donnie Johnson, 16May19, (TN) ~
DIR By: BuzzC
Date: March 11, 2019, 9:34 pm
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Tennessee Death Row
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Tennessee inmates sentenced to die prior to 1999 are to choose
the method of execution to be used - lethal injection or
electric chair. If they don't choose it defaults to the electric
chair. Donnie Johnson has chosen to die in the electric chair.
On December 8, 1984, Connie Johnson, the wife of Petitioner
Donnie E. Johnson, was murdered by means of suffocation. As
recited by our supreme court, the following facts summarized the
proof as developed at trial. At the time of Connie Johnson’s
murder, the Petitioner was employed at a Memphis camping
equipment center. Also employed at the center was Ronnie McCoy,
a prisoner on work release. Ronnie McCoy testified that
Petitioner Johnson “killed Mrs. Johnson at [the camping
equipment center] in the early evening of Saturday December 8,
1984, the time of death being estimated at between 6:30 and 7
p.m.” Ronnie McCoy further explained that “he left [the
Petitioner] and Mrs. Johnson alone in the office of the camping
center while McCoy attended to some chores prior to leaving the
place of business for the day.” McCoy stated that he was gone
“for some ten to fifteen minutes, and when he returned to the
office . . . he found Mrs. Johnson strangled or suffocated to
death.” It is undisputed that both the Petitioner and Ronnie
McCoy “collaborated, willingly or otherwise, in transporting the
body of Mrs. Johnson in her 1981 Ford van from the sales office
to a shopping center a few miles away.” “They also placed inside
the van her broken spectacles, her shoes, her coat and some
earrings which had become dislodged in her struggle for breath.”
The van was left at the shopping center. The Petitioner then
transported McCoy to the penal farm in the Petitioner’s pickup
truck. The next morning, Petitioner Johnson contacted his
employer inquiring as to his wife’s whereabouts. Petitioner
Johnson further informed his employer that his wife was supposed
to have gone Christmas shopping on the previous evening.
Petitioner Johnson’s employer, Mr. James Force, and his wife
agreed to assist the Petitioner in his search for his wife. In
doing so, Mr. and Mrs. Force found Connie Johnson’s van in the
shopping center. Upon opening the van, they found the lifeless
body of Mrs. Johnson. A large plastic garbage bag had been
forced into Mrs. Johnson’s mouth, resulting in her strangulation
and asphyxiation. She bled from the nose and ears, and traces of
blood were later found on a couch in the office where her death
occurred. No ignition keys were found in the van. A subsequent
search of the Appellant’s truck revealed the ignition keys to
Mrs. Johnson’s van along with her hairbrush and some other
personal items. The ignition keys were the only set of keys to
the van. During the police investigation, Petitioner Johnson
denied any involvement in the death of his wife and at no time
ever implicated McCoy in her death. The Petitioner also denied
having any knowledge of when or how his wife’s van had reached
the shopping center. The Petitioner did not testify during the
guilt phase of his trial. Rather, it was only at the penalty
phase that the Petitioner took the stand and denied killing his
wife, placing blame on Ronnie McCoy. Petitioner Johnson
testified that he was the one who left McCoy and his wife alone
in the sales office for a few minutes. He explained that he had
given his wife approximately $450 that day for Christmas
shopping. He believed that McCoy had tried to rob his wife and
killed her in the process.
HTML http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2019-05-16/tennessee-to-execute-man-convicted-for-wifes-murder-three-decades-ago
8)
#Post#: 340--------------------------------------------------
Re: ~ Donnie Johnson, 16May19, (TN) ~
DIR By: BuzzC
Date: May 14, 2019, 3:05 pm
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Tennessee prisoner moved to 'death watch' ahead of execution--
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee death row inmate Don Johnson has
been moved to death watch ahead of his scheduled Thursday
execution.
The 68-year-old was sentenced to death for the 1984 murder of
his wife, Connie Johnson.
Several religious leaders have urged Gov. Bill Lee to grant
Johnson clemency. They include the president of the worldwide
Seventh-day Adventist Church, of which Johnson is a member.
Supporters say Johnson experienced a religious conversion and
now ministers to other prisoners.
Lee said on Tuesday he is weighing the clemency request and will
announce his decision soon.
According to the state Correction Department, during death watch
an inmate is placed in a cell adjacent to the execution chamber
and kept under 24-hour observation with limited visitation.
8)
#Post#: 345--------------------------------------------------
Re: ~ Donnie Johnson, 16May19, (TN) ~
DIR By: BuzzC
Date: May 16, 2019, 12:20 am
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Tennessee governor will not intervene in Don Johnson's
execution--
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
MEMPHIS-- Tennessee governor Bill Lee, who had been considering
a request for clemency by death row inmate Don Johnson,
announced Tuesday he will not intervene in the execution.
"After a prayerful and deliberate consideration of Don Johnson's
request for clemency, and after a through review of the case, I
am upholding the sentence of the state of Tennessee and will not
be intervening," Lee said in a statement.
8)
#Post#: 346--------------------------------------------------
Re: ~ Donnie Johnson, 16May19, (TN) ~
DIR By: BuzzC
Date: May 16, 2019, 5:12 pm
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Ahead of execution, Tennessee killer says he was a 'monster'--
Thursday, May 16, 2019
May 16 (UPI) -- The state of Tennessee will execute death row
inmate and convicted killer Donnie Johnson Thursday night, a day
after he called himself a "monster" and asked for forgiveness.
Johnson was convicted for the 1984 murder of his wife, Connie,
in which he suffocated her by pushing a trash bag into her
throat. Now 68, Johnson is set to die at 7 p.m. Thursday.
"I truly regret my life and what I became in the process,"
Johnson wrote in a statement Wednesday issued by attorney Kelley
Henry. "I am and will continue to carry the pain of all the
grief that I have caused others to endure."
The statement was addressed to those affected "by the pain I
have caused."
"I would humbly ask for your forgiveness," he wrote. "Yet mere
words just do not seem to be sufficient when I speak them!
"I was not a man but a monster."
Instead of a traditional last meal, Johnson has asked supporters
to donate meals to the homeless, Henry said. Another Tennessee
inmate executed in 2007, who'd asked the $20 allotment for his
food be given to a homeless shelter, inspired Johnson's
decision.
"Mr. Johnson realizes that his $20 allotment will not feed many
homeless people," Henry said. "His request is that those who
have supported him provide a meal to a homeless person."
His attorneys and supporters say Johnson has transformed himself
while in prison, and ultimately became an elder in Seventh-day
Adventist Church. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday denied his
request for clemency.
HTML http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/05/16/Ahead-of-execution-Tennessee-killer-says-he-was-a-monster/4861558018816/
8)
#Post#: 348--------------------------------------------------
Re: ~ Donnie Johnson, 16May19, (TN) ~
DIR By: BuzzC
Date: May 16, 2019, 8:30 pm
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Tennessee executes man convicted of wife's murder three decades
ago--
Thursday, May 16, 2019
NASHVILLE - Tennessee on Thursday executed a 68-year-old man who
was convicted three decades ago of suffocating his wife with a
large plastic garbage bag, a crime he blamed on an inmate on
work release.
Donnie Johnson was put to death by lethal injection at 7:37 p.m.
CDT at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville,
the state's Department of Correction said in a statement.
Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to
die in November 1985 for killing his wife, Connie, on Dec. 8,
1984, after she went to see him at a Memphis camping supply
store where he worked.
8)
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